It's absolutely great for people like me. Hog hunting is my passion.Have killed big deer up north so I don't actively hunt deer down here in extreme NW Fla. I did kill a "great big" ol' 135# 6 point last year up at the hunting club in Ala though. That was almost by accident. When I first joined the club,(2640A and 15 members)the members said that "there ain't no hogs on the club". After about a month I started seeing a track or two. I quickly realized that the other members didn't know a hog track from a deer track.I had been doing all my hunting from my boat on Escambia River and on Eglin AFB(by permit). The river and the AFB both have seasons, but on private property in Ala. (and in Fla.) hogs are the property of the landowner. You can hunt them year round,7 days a week,no size limit,no bag limit. Our club is mostly planted pines, but has allot of spring fed bottoms that meander their way through the club property. These bottoms all feed into the major stream that almost cuts the lease in half. These small,deep bottoms have white sandy streams along with black mud spring holes and tiny "swamps". The bottoms are fairly thick with every kind of brush imagineable that has thorns or stickers on them. We call them "wait a minute"vines. When your pushing your way through them and they hook you with there fish hook shaped thorns,you can almost hear them say"wait a minute".(or WTFYG) I started seeing hog sign in these bottoms so I started really scouting them. I found some places that the hogs come and go so I put up ladder stands and started killing some hogs. Now I find that they are moving accross the club into other pine thickets that have been previously void of hog sign. They are eating the small pine roots around the trees. The land owners/managers have voiced their displeasure so my hog hunting now has taken 1st place of things for me to hunt. I killed a 215 pounder about 6weeks ago but most of the ones that I kill are somewhat smaller than that(although I have seen one that is bigger than that). It is amazing how fast they have moved onto the property and are spreading throughout the lease. It also amazes me that none of the other members seem to want to hunt the hogs. I think that they are better eating than deer anyday. The ones at the club seem to taste better than the ones that I have killed on the river also. Oh well,somebody has to try to keep these hogs from damageing the pine trees so I guess that it will have to be me. Hey,maybe I can charge for my services.----------Good Huntin'---------pruhdlr

WMA hogs for me this year...lots of scouting and some new tactics. Going to be a good year - of course I say that every year!

Hi fellows.
Are we going to get together to hunt hogs again sometime?

Dave

Greeting guys, Keep in mind that this year(as last) the state has grouped hogs in with "small game". That tells me that when gen. gun is closed you can still hunt them with a centerfire pistol. They must be 15" at the shoulder. This is for WMA land only. ---- Also,I ended up with 3 turkeys this past season, all in Ala.-----GOOD HUNTIN'-------- pruhdlr

Have you tried Parkers Island on Escambis river ? How about Yellow river at the quintet rd boat launch? Also, sandy landing and keiser's landing in chumuckla might be good for you in those areas if you can find a niche around the hunting clubs there. Good Luck.

Dave,

If we do we should snag another spot. We'll have to do some looking - maybe deer this year - somehwere up north FL or just inside teh GA line would be nice.

Marc

density1, Yeah,ok with me. I want a RECORD,MOUNTABLE,BOAR ! If that is planned,please count me in.(any price) I might try to contact some of them SW hunters and see if they would have me at their hog hunts. ------pruhdlr

Any price....nah...I don't believe you'd pay tp go to one of those "trip over monster hog" ranches to shoot a fenced in monster...not yoor style. I saw a show on the men's channel the other night that was on a FL ranch that you and I talked about last year. You could hear the freeway in the background and there were about 10 - 30 different types of animals in shooting range at all times. It was pathetic.

Well fellows, I am looking. Have you read through the old "panhandle" thread? James Gates tossed down a gauntlet at us and I kicked it around some. He says we can hunt "real" hogs around his place. Should we take him up on it? He lives just north of the Cedar Key area in Dixie county.

Dave

Dave, I might be able to go for that. Especially if I (we)could go down well before hand and do some serious recon/scouting. Hummmmm ??--------

Dave, I might be able to go for that. Especially if I (we)could go down well before hand and do some serious recon/scouting. Hummmmm ??--------

Well Bill, I live in Atlanta, so I will have to see when I can get down that way. Looks like high gas prices and maybe some shortages around here for awhile.

I do plan to get down there to see the taxidermist when my trophy is ready. Also I will have to contact James Gates about when and where to meet up with him. PM me with some contact details so I can get in touch with you when my trophy is ready for pickup. We will see about setting up a meeting then. By the way, I got me a new Tundra.

Dave

I am surprised that some Florida hunters are thinking rather serious thoughts about my offer to help on hunting areas.
I can offer a camp site with a screened in kitchen, maps of areas that have produced good hogs and deer in the past, and any general help we can give.......at no cost!
One of the prime areas this year will be Tide Swamp (a Fla WMA) .......if you don't mind hunting in rough country. Hoyt Roberts will start scouting in the next few weeks.
Black powder season will if "ify" and we are watching the water level now.
The acorn crop looks good, if we don't get another storm like last year that knocked them down.
Another good camp site for the first two weeks is Shired Island on the Gulf.......only a few minutes from some great coastal island hog hunting.........need a shallow water boat for that.
Following the first two weeks, Goethe has a small game season that includes wild hogs.......not a lot of people hunt the area at that time........about a 40 minte drive from Old Town.
Lower Suwannee WMA will be either feast of famine......based on water conditions in the river.......fee permints on this one.
Of course, there is no guarantee of kills (for that go to a game farm), but you will see some great areas.....James@Dixie Slugs

Thanks James for the invitation!

I plan to come down and be in your area in about two weeks. (The weekend of 17th and 18th) I would like to stop by your place on Sunday the 18th to check out a possible hunt.

pruhdlr, Elkloco, can we get together for this? PM me some contact details and we can talk about it.

Dave

Dave & All.......That will be fine. I could meet everyone "Downtown" Old Town (Hwy 19 & #349) and show you the way to the house....James

Dave & All........Oops! I just just telephone calls from my two girls telling me both families will be here for the week before and after Thanksgiving.........so, that rules out camping on our place.
However, there are two great camping sites with easy access to Lower Suwannee hunting area. I can still meet with you all.....show you photos/maps of the good areas and drive you through. I can also get the free permits for you if I know how many........ James

Dave - you have a PM.

Dave & All.......That will be fine. I could meet everyone "Downtown" Old Town (Hwy 19 & #349) and show you the way to the house....James


James,
You have a couple of MP's from me.

Dave

Dave and All........Got your PM's and sent reply. Sunday looks good. Hardees (Hwy 19 & 349-Old town) at 9:00 AM........James

I would be interested in info if you guys do decide on a hunt somewhere. I know I wussed out on you last year, and can't guarantee that I won't wuss out again, but I would like to consider it if you all will have me.

I would be interested in info if you guys do decide on a hunt somewhere. I know I wussed out on you last year, and can't guarantee that I won't wuss out again, but I would like to consider it if you all will have me.

jb12string,

I have sent you a PM.

Dave

Got the PM, I will reply later today hopefully

dave does not do PM's, we don't let him near tools!

Private Messages?

dave does not do PM's, we don't let him near tools!

No, Preventive Maintenance. It appears one of my smart aleck co-workers has found me.

I see, should have figured that out, do alot of work with guys in the maitainence/hvac/plumbing trades

sure enjoy hearing about your hog hunting-I will try to get time to head up to the north end of the county and do a bit of hunting myself

sure enjoy hearing about your hog hunting-I will try to get time to head up to the north end of the county and do a bit of hunting myself

Good luck!

I had forgotten about this thread. As an update. Me and my friend Jack got together with James and Hank. They helped us out quite a bit. Showed us around and where to go. It was a great time and beautiful country. Unfortunately we did not see anything, except for a doe that almost ran into me. It was too dry and there were just too many people around on opening day. I do hope to try again next year.

Dave

jimw, Have hunted Eglin several times this season. Will be in there more next year. It's small game there now and have been walking the area's close to the Yellow River hunting squirrels and scouting for hogs. Have been seeing some good sign. Will be hog hunting in there again during this next Gen. gun season coming up. Have heard stories of some REAL big hogs in there. Have seen signs of 250 pounders myself. It takes some footwork to learn Eglin,but after you do, it's some good hunting. ----------